It is P25

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As expected, workers in Metro Manila get a wage hike critics have derided as too measly.

THE Department of Labor and Employment has announced that the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board approved a P25 hike in the daily salary of minimum wage workers in the National Capital Region, which includes a P10 cost of living allowance.

Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said the RTWPB-NCR has issued Wage Order No. NCR – 22, which provides for a minimum wage increase for the three million minimum wage earners in Metro Manila.

Bello added that the adjustment raises the new daily minimum wage from P500 to P537.

The P25 increase is way lower than the P334 the petitioners have proposed and closer to the P20 offer of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines.

The wage hike will take effect 15 days after it is published in newspapers of national circulation.

Bello defended the amount, saying both the capability of employers to implement the adjustment and the need of workers were taken into consideration. He added they also respect the sentiments of labor groups who said the P25 amount was too small.

“Whereas, based upon the inputs from the stakeholders derived from the consultations and public hearing, the RTPWB–NCR has determined the need to increase the prevailing minimum wage rates without impairing the viability of business and industry,” the wage order read.

The minimum wage hike, however, is not limited to the NCR. Region 2’s minimum wage was increased by P10 on top of P10 Cost of Living Allowance, good for an amount of P320-P360 across different sectors. In Region 4-B, the minimum wage was hiked by P12 to P20 which would mean a minimum salary threshold of P283 to P320 across sectors.